Bad Wolf Bay
by Rachael-Rose
Summary: TenxRose. She'd do anything to make the one she loves happy...My first Doctor Who fic well, the first one I've showed anyone, anyway : Also on A Teaspoon and an Open Mind. Please RR! Constructive criticism gratefully recieved.Rated K overall,T for C7.
1. Chapter 1 Sacrifice

This is it, thinks Rose. If I don't tell him now, I'll never get the chance again.

"I…I love you!"

And in typical Doctor style, he can't just come out and say it himself. He's got to beat around the bush. But she can see it in his eyes — he loves her back; she doesn't need the words. It doesn't make it any easier though, when he disappears, vanishing from her life forever before he's even given a chance to say it out loud.

She feels as though she's crumpling inside. When she met him, she'd never have dreamed that some random stranger could become a 900-year-old alien from the far reaches of space, and that that 900-year-old alien could become someone she'd love so much, she'd die for.

Almost did die for, she reminds herself, and he did become all that.  
She turns towards her family, about to leave him behind forever. Doubts she'd ever feel pain like this again as her mum runs over and gathers her into a hug.

Then it happens.

Somewhere behind her, there's a cry, and something that sounds like an explosion, and they fall to the ground, sand covering their faces. It takes a few moments to get back to their feet and turn around, but when they do, they can't believe what they're seeing. That light…Rose recognises it from somewhere, but where?

In amongst the gold swirls of light, there's someone lying on the ground, and she untangles herself from her mum's arms and tries to help. The light's blinding, burning, but she still tries to get closer. It's a woman. Rose can't see her face, but it's definitely a woman, struggling to push herself up and look at her. Red hair falling into her face, and she hasn't got the strength to brush it away.

"Help him," she manages, her hand gesturing weakly behind her. Jackie runs over, terrified, and Mickey too, and they run behind the woman with arms shielding their eyes, disappearing from view as the light engulfs them for a second. They reappear, dragging another person between them who's clearly stunned.  
"Doctor…"

Rose looks at the woman again, and now the light's fading. She can see her face, and she doesn't look well. Tears are falling down the woman's face, but she's smiling.  
"I did it…"

"Who are you?" Rose asks. "What did you do?" She should be frightened, but she's not. Not after all the things she's seen, and she knows that this is different somehow.

The woman looks at the Doctor, who's staring back at her, horrified, grief-stricken.

"No…don't do this to me," he begs, but it's too late.

"Had to send you back. Had to…help you. Never told you…I love you. Be happy. A message…" She smiles, all her light gone now. Rose and her family can only watch as the Doctor, now recovered from whatever has happened, falls to the ground and pulls the dying woman to him, crying and begging her not to leave him. But he can't help her, and Rose keeps watching as faint lines of that gold light appear all over the woman, and she cracks like a mirror, turning to dust and falling away on a breeze. The Doctor grabs at the empty air, looking around frantically, before his eyes settle on Rose.

She goes to him, a million questions running through her mind. But all she can manage is to say his name as she throws her arms around him, kneeling by him on the ground as he cries, shaking with sobs. Rose looks around over his shoulder, then realises something's missing.  
"Doctor, how did you get back? Where's the TARDIS?"

"That _was_ her…" he chokes, still crying. "She sent me back, and it killed her."

"A message…" Rose smiles despite the situation, remembering what she said on the satellite. "Bad Wolf Bay."


	2. Chapter 2 The Legend

They've been here for God knows how long, but it's getting dark now, and she's cold. Rose doesn't want to leave him, though. He's still crying, muttering in some language she can't understand, and staring out to sea in the direction the last of the dust took as it escaped on the wind. What can she say? She's lost count of the number of times she's opened her mouth to say something, and failed.

"You're cold, Rose. You should go in."

The sudden break in the silence startles her, and she looks round sharply to see the Doctor's tear-stained face looking at her. "Not leaving you here."

Strangely, he doesn't argue, but changes the subject. "Someone told me once that when they're about to die, something happens to them that shows their soul. Reveals their true form, so to speak. I never believed it. I just thought that they shut down, like an ordinary machine, and didn't start again. We'd been together for nearly a thousand years. How can she just go now?"

Rose hugs him tightly, almost crying herself. "She loved you. She wanted to see you happy, and I guess…well, I suppose she thought that sending you back to me was going to do that." He's silent, looking out to sea again. "She loved you more than you know. Sometimes, at night, I'd be trying to get to sleep, and she'd speak to me. Not out loud, but in my head."

"What did she say?"

"Nothing much. Just talking like friends do, I suppose. But one night, she was sad. Like she was crying, and I asked what was wrong. She wanted to be human, she said, because the way she was, she could never tell you."

They're silent for a while, the Doctor sobbing again at the things Rose has told him. Things he never knew, but should have known. He can't imagine how long the TARDIS had felt like this, how long it hurt her.   
"Rose, there's something I've got to tell you. Something I should have said a long time ago."

"Yeah?" She's got a pretty good idea, and wants to tell him it doesn't matter, but she knows he has to say it. A little bit of her wants to hear it too, if she's honest.

"I love you."

"I know. I love you too."

"It hurts so much, but I'm so glad she did it. I couldn't bear the thought of never seeing you again."

She goes to say something in reply, but the sight of something out on the water stops her. As the last of the sun sets, there's a faint glow, faint, but definitely there, playing over the surface. The Doctor's noticed it too, and he's rubbing the tears from his eyes as if he knows what's there, but can't quite believe it.

_Look after him_; Rose hears a voice say, before she feels it. That old pain, that old burning at the back of her head that she recognises so well. Her grip on the Doctor fails, and she can feel herself falling back and hitting the ground, his terrified voice carrying over to her, but she can't understand the words.

He looks round, and the light on the water's gone. And there's Rose, lying blacked-out on the sand, her eyes half-open, looking to the darkened sky. He doesn't know what to do; whether to try and help her here or carry her to her house, but there's no time to decide.

As Rose opens her eyes again — but they're not brown, they're gold, and this definitely isn't Rose. She looks at him and smiles.

"Don't be sad. I hate it when you're sad. I wanted to say goodbye properly. I'm okay now, so don't you worry. You'll be so happy with her. I know you hate staying in one place, but you won't be here forever. I'm okay. I don't regret it one bit, because I love you."

"Goodbye, old girl." Somehow, he can't cry. Somehow, now, it's all right, and he can't be sad anymore.

"Goodbye."

And she blinks, and there's Rose again, asking what the hell just happened.


	3. Chapter 3 Driftwood

"Never mind what happened, you're freezing! Where are you staying tonight?" It's suddenly hit him how long they've been out here, and while it doesn't really affect him, Rose is frighteningly cold. Without waiting for a reply, the Doctor hoists her up and looks around for any sign of life.

"In a house just over that hill. Don't be daft! I can walk…"

Only she's so cold that she can't, and he has to physically carry her back to the house. She studies the Doctor's face in the silence that follows, and all the grief seems to be gone now, replaced by concern for her.

Back at the house, Rose is trying to get answers from the Doctor about what's just happened, but she can barely get a word in as Jackie takes over, wrapping her in blankets, thrusting a steaming mug into her hands and all the time muttering about 'what the Hell was he thinking, keeping her out in the cold like that?'

By the time it's over, he's disappeared, and the last thing she hears of him is an earnest apology from the other side of the bedroom door. Rose smiles at the thought of her mum's face as he says sorry, and his worried glances at her hand.

-

She's awake again. Damn it. It's the third time tonight, and a glance at her mobile tells Rose it's still only four o' clock. Somewhere outside the door, there are footsteps — it could only be the Doctor at this hour and, wrapped in her duvet, she goes out to investigate.

Whatever had been holding his grief back before, it's gone now, and he's pacing the corridor, crying again, his hand over his face. She's never seen him like this, and it scares her. He turns again, and looks straight up at her; bleary-eyed, mussed-up hair and wrapped in an old Care Bears duvet, watching him intently. And damn it…  
"You're beautiful." The Doctor smiles briefly, wiping away tears. She walks over and rests her hands on his face, looking him straight in the eye.

"It's not your fault. She chose this." Her quilt falls to the floor and she shivers, so he pulls her closer and wraps his suit jacket around her.

"I know. But all that time…I can't help wishing I could've done something. Anything, I don't know, just…something."

"Doctor?"

"Yeah?"

"What happened? On the beach, I mean."

"The TARDIS — she spoke through you, somehow. Like she possessed you, I suppose. Just said goodbye, and that she was okay."

"I heard a voice telling me to look after you." Rose decides to leave out the part about the pain. She knows what that was. The vortex, or at least a little piece of it, because it didn't burn all the time this time round, is back in her again, somehow. But she doesn't know why, and although she wants to know, this isn't the time to try and find out. Asking the Doctor will probably only make him feel worse.

So she looks up at him, their faces a hair's breadth apart.  
"I mean it. I'm not leaving you. Ever."  
And she kisses him.

-

It's morning, and Rose doesn't know quite how she got here, but she's back in her bed, and the Doctor's nowhere to be seen. Outside, there's noise as her Mum, Pete and Mickey get ready to leave for home.

Sitting up in bed, she rubs her eyes and looks around for some clothes, but is quickly interrupted by the slamming of one door and her own being opened.  
"Rose! Look what I found! Look-" The Doctor bounds in, and she can't tell whether he's happy or sad. He holds something out to her, and she takes it, surprised by its weight. Blue on one side and grey on the other, it appears to be and feels like wood, but it's far heavier. There's a crack down the middle and it's a bit splintered, and although anyone else would take it for a piece of driftwood, Rose knows otherwise.

"Found it on the beach," grins the Doctor, tears in his eyes. She hands it back to him with a smile, and watches as he examines it more closely. As he looks at the back, his eyes widen, and she jumps up to see what's wrong.

On the grey side, there are marks — round shapes that make no sense to her, but that obviously mean something to him.  
"That," he smiles and points at the marks, "is Gallifreyan for 'goodbye'."


	4. Chapter 4 Get Me to the Church on Time

"So…what are you going to do now?" Pointless question, really, Rose thinks. Whatever he does, she's going with him, so it doesn't make much difference. "Stay behind, or come back with me?"

"What do you think?" The Doctor winks at her and flashes her his biggest grin. Around them, Jackie, Pete and Mickey are getting the last bits into the car and belting up, and there isn't really much time to think about it anyway. They're sat on the doorstep nearby, Rose's head resting on the Doctor's shoulder as he plays with the piece of blue wood he found this morning.

"What're you gonna do with that?"

He sighs deeply.  
"No idea. I was thinking I could bury it somewhere. Plant a tree." He grins again. "Hold on…where am I going to bury it anyway? I don't even have a home to go to."

This gets nothing but a loud tutting sound from next to him. "Idiot. Course you do. Pete's house is huge, you know. Tons of room. And me, of course." Rose sticks her tongue out at him, blushing slightly.

"I don't think your mum would like that."

"Tough luck."

-

"Rose? Wake up, Rose, we're on the ferry."

Best sleep she's had in three months or more, and the Doctor's poking her to death. Typical. "Sod off."

"You can't stay down here in the car."

"I was having the best dream." She sits up slowly, rubbing sleep from her eyes. "You and me were-"

"What?"

"Never mind," she shrugs, turning red again and hurrying out of the car. The Doctor just grins, mind going into overdrive as he follows her up the steps into the top of the boat.  
What comes next, however, he's totally unprepared for.

One second, Rose is there. The next, she's vanished. Right there, in front of him, on the stairs.

"Rose? ROSE!"

All hell's breaking loose on the deck as he catches up with the others. Mickey looks terrified, Pete's gone off searching, and the Doctor's left with Jackie, who looks nothing short of fatally angry.

"What the Christ's happened now? I tell you, every time you come along, something happens to her! What is it with you?"

"I don't know, honestly! One minute she was there, and the next…shit!" The Doctor stops mid-sentence and stares, dumbfounded, across the bar nearby. Rose, shaken up and looking somewhat the worse for wear, is sprawled across the bar, broken glasses everywhere and there's people screaming.

"What the Hell just happened?" She grabs the Doctor's hand as he pulls her from the bar, carefully avoiding the glass shards, and checks her over in a corner with the sonic screwdriver. Jackie rushes over and the other two men hurry through a door nearby, obviously having heard the commotion, and for the second time in two days, Rose finds herself unable to get answers from anyone as they all fuss around her.

"Where were you?" he asks, as he pulls her into the nearest ladies' room, closely followed by family.

"On the stairs. I was on the stairs, going up, and then…then there was this rushing noise, and I was…somewhere else," she finishes lamely, a dazed look in her eyes. "A church? Must've been, 'cause bells were ringing, and there was some guy in a dress outside."

"Right…" mutters the Doctor, confusion written all over his face. "Because, according to this," he looks at the screwdriver, "you've just come back from around five years in your future."


	5. Chapter 5 Rice

"Well, here we are!" Finally, they're back home, and everyone's piling out of the car, tired, but glad to be back at last. The Doctor's held off questioning Rose too much about the ferry incident. She's clearly still shocked, not just at that, but at everything that's happened over the past few days. Unsurprising, really, considering she's just seen the TARDIS die (not to mention turn into something completely different), almost caught hypothermia, seen him crack up and disappeared into a completely different time without explanation.

"Yeah…" mutters Rose, as if her mind's elsewhere. Pulling a bright pink bag from the back of the car, she gestures towards the door and grins. "Looks like we'd better find you somewhere to sleep!"

They walk for what seems like ages before coming to the bedrooms. This house is bigger than it looks, thinks the Doctor, before feeling tears prick his eyes again and mentally slapping himself. He's still clutching the piece of blue wood — he's hardly put it down since he found it, and doesn't show signs of doing so again anytime soon.

"You've got a choice here," Rose says, pulling him from his trance. "That one, that one, or that one." She points at three rooms in turn, their doors all open to reveal inviting scenes; soft beds, wardrobes and tons of cushions. "Or that one," she adds hurriedly, pointing to another, closed, door. He goes over to it, and pokes his head round the door, closely followed by the rest of him, leaving the door open for Rose to enter behind. To his surprise, she throws her bag onto the bed, and makes for what seems like the door to an en-suite.

Noticing the confused look the Doctor gives her, Rose attempts to clarify without turning bright red. "This is, um…my room. Well…ours…I don't know." She shrugs, failing in the attempt and looking for all the world like a kid who's just been caught with her hands in the biscuit barrel. Thankfully, he comes to the rescue, grinning like a loon and flopping onto the bed, hands behind his head.  
"This one," agrees the Doctor cheerfully, bouncing on the bed like an excited child. "Comfy, this."

-

"What were you doing when it happened?" Rose and the Doctor are sat at the kitchen table, she drinking from a mug of tea and he playing with the sonic screwdriver, a thoughtful look on his face.

"Nothing. Just climbing the stairs."

"This is going to sound completely weird, but what were you thinking about?"

"Eh?" She's confused now, and not just confused, but embarrassed too. Part of her wants to pretend she doesn't remember, but if she doesn't tell, she might not find out what's going on. "I was…thinking about the dream I had. The one you so rudely woke me up from," she adds, trying to hide her embarrassment.

"I don't suppose you're going to tell me what it was about."

"No. Depends."

"Rose?"

"Yeah?"

He reaches over and fiddles with her hair for a moment, eyebrows knitted together in a look of complete bemusement. He picks something out, holding it up for her to see. "Why the Hell do you have rice in your hair?!"

Top of Form

Bottom of Form


	6. Chapter 6 Forward

Rose's expression matches the Doctor's as she stares at the piece of rice in his fingers.

"Has…has this ever happened before?"

"No."

"Is it the first time you've thought about that particular dream?"

"No. I've been having the same dream for months, but this never happened whenever I thought about it. I didn't just vanish every time I woke up…"

"Okay…has it happened with any other dream you've had?"

"No. Look, what's going on? I'm scared here!" And she looks it, the Doctor notes. Not surprising, really, but he can't do anything until he knows the details.

"You have a dream. You think about the dream, then you're in it. Right, we're going to try something." He takes her hand, throwing the grain of rice onto the table. "You okay with this?" She nods. Anything to get answers. "Think about a dream you've had. The weirdest dream you've ever had, and visualise yourself in that dream as well as you can."

Nothing happens, and she's wondering what in the world he's taken. "What does this have to do with it?"

"Hmmm…" The Doctor doesn't answer, but sits in silence, wearing a thoughtful expression. "Next try! Close your eyes again, and this time, visualise yourself in London. We're standing by Big Ben. London, 1877 just to be careful. Really-"

Rose screams.

The Doctor joins in as they find themselves in a tangled mess of arms and legs on something cold. Cautiously, he opens his eyes and looks at the surroundings, eyes wide. "Rose?" She's refusing to open her eyes.

"Erm…Rose? You might want to take a look at this…"

She opens her eyes slowly, staring round, terrified. There's a stain on her white top from where they've landed in a puddle, and she's shivering from the cold of both the night air and the water. "What happened? What did I do?"

The Doctor leaps up; pulling Rose with him, and pulls out the screwdriver to scan her. "Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!" She can't decide whether he looks shocked or over the moon.

"What? Tell me!!"

"Vortex…TARDIS. TARDIS! Oh, brilliant! You brilliant girl! And you-" He throws his arms round Rose and kisses her. "You are amazing! How you're even keeping it all in that head of yours is beyond me, but…wow!"

"DOCTOR! WHAT HAPPENED?!"

"On the beach, she said goodbye, right? Through you. And she told me I wouldn't be stuck in the same place forever, and you said she said to look after me, and…"

"Doctor, you're babbling."

"Sorry," he grins. "But…wow! Do you have a headache?"

"What? No! Talk sense!"

"Remember any pain when she spoke through you?"

" I don't remember the speaking. But…whoa. Crap. Crappy crap crap. It hurt like hell before. Like it did when…oh, God, not again!"

"Yeah, again. Except this time, for some reason, you can handle it. No idea why. She's given you the vortex. Well, a piece of it, 'cause you can handle it now. Is that possible, a piece of it? Oh, I don't know, don't care either. And you know what you've just done, don't you?"

Rose looks around, realisation dawning. "1877…" she whispers, gaze returning to the Doctor, a smile slowly appearing on her face despite it all. "Which means-"

"-That whatever dream you found yourself in, it wasn't a dream. You took yourself into your future." He winks, as if he knows something he shouldn't. Rose blushes, and he winks again, tauntingly. "Rice in your hair."  
Rose's face turns even redder.

"Rice. Rice, rice, rice…" he continues in a sing-song voice, turning Rose from embarrassed, to embarrassed and very annoyed. "So, now all we've got to do is get back," he announces, suddenly changing the subject. He waves at a man passing by in the dark street, and then turns back to her. "Without getting anything in your hair this time."

"DOCTOR!"


	7. Chapter 7 Closure

"What are you doing?"

The good news – they're back in the right time. Nobody's realised they've been gone. The bad news – they're now lying in a tangled heap across the kitchen table, Rose appearing conveniently breathless, with smashed mugs on the floor and Pete standing in the doorway, eyebrows raised higher than the Doctor's ever thought possible.

He looks at Rose, a huge grin plastered across his face. "I guess we'd better tell them."

"Which bit? The bit about me being full of time vortex, or the bit about us?"

-

After much talk, and many evaded slaps, they're sitting on Rose's bed, the Doctor clearly relieved that's all over.

"I guess the next step is to see whether the translation thing still works."

"Yeah," Rose agrees. "And what are you going to do next time that runs down?" She points at the sonic screwdriver that's lying on the bedside table.

"Damn. Got anything at Torchwood that you can use to recharge it?"

"Could take a look, I suppose. Probably something lying around in the basements. Or you could grab some parts and make it up as you go along." Rose throws herself back against the pillows, hands behind her head. "So…what about the TARDIS?" she asks, eyes flicking to the piece of wood he's playing with again.

"Like I said, bury it, plant a tree. Don't know where, though."

"I know a place."

-

A little later, they're all gathered around an oak in a quiet corner of the garden. There's not much noise here, just a few birds and a squirrel now and then. Jackie, Pete and Mickey hang back, not really understanding why they're making so much fuss over a piece of splintered wood, but Rose stands close to a small hole the Doctor's dug, near the roots of the tree. She promised herself she wouldn't – that she'd be strong for him – but she can't help crying. She's losing a friend, a wonderful friend, and it feels like a huge hole's just opened up inside her, as though nothing's quite sunk in until now.

The Doctor lays the piece of wood carefully into the hole, whispering something in what Rose can only guess to be Gallifreyan, covers it over, and moves away. He bows in the direction of the small mound and turns to her, head lowered. Rose just moves to wrap her arms round him, lifting his face to wipe tears away.

No one notices the gold glow that's forming among the branches. The shoot that's springing up from the mound as they walk away. The tiny red bud.

-

"Night Mum, Pete, Mickey!" Rose starts up the stairs, sighing. It's been a long day. The Doctor's been hiding away in her – their – room since they buried the TARDIS, and despite knowing he wants to be alone, the temptation to check on him is too strong now. Tapping on the door lightly, she looks in to see him sat cross-legged on the bed, staring at the quilt.

"You okay?" He looks up, and Rose is surprised to see his face is dry.

"Yeah. I'm fine. All over now." He smiles, and gestures for her to join him. She sits on the bed in front of him, taking his hand and smiling back. "You know something?"

"What?"

"I love you, Rose Tyler." He breaks into a wide but sincere smile. "So damn much."

She doesn't answer – just sits staring at him for what seems like forever, right in the eyes, and his smile fades. What's she going to say? But then, catching him completely off guard, she leaps forward, throwing her arms round his neck and kissing him hard. Surprised, he falls back.

She breaks the kiss, grinning and looking him in the eye again. "Love you too. And you know what?"

"What?"

"I mean it. I'm not leaving you. Ever." She bites her lip, as if thinking something over, her face flushing pink. "Doctor…"

"What?" he asks, smirking. Seeing the smirk, Rose's embarrassment disappears instantly and she kisses him again in answer, fumbling with his tie.

"Wa…Rose, wait! I just thought of something!"

"I'm sorry."

"No! It's not that…Rose, do they have Fall Out Boy in this universe?"

"Shut up, Doctor!"


	8. Chapter 8 Epilogue

_I'm so happy for them. I can't begin to describe how happy, standing here watching them from the back of the church. Oh, and little Marion is just so sweet…silly really, isn't it? I'm the third part of the triangle – I shouldn't be this happy, right? But I am, it'd be stupid for me to be anything else. After all, I chose death. I chose this. If I did feel otherwise, I'd only have myself to blame. _

_Rose – she looks amazing. I watched her mum do her hair this morning, and help her into her dress. I don't think she knows the half of what she's capable of now. When I said 'look after him', I meant it, and now she'll be able to. Rose will live as long as he does, however long that is, and he'll live as long as her. It won't hurt her this time, either, nor will she change. I love Rose too, you understand. So amazing. I could see the first time she came in that she was different. And of course, she became my friend – my best friend, even, despite the way I've taken so long to trust before. She kept my secret, and I am forever grateful for that._

_But as much as I could stand and watch her forever, I could watch him for forever and a day. My Doctor. My amazing, funny, brilliant, beautiful Doctor. Rassilon, it hurt so much to see him on the beach like that, but what else could I do? I knew he'd be so much worse without Rose, so there was no choice, was there? She put it so well, simply, but so well. I wanted to be human oh, so badly that it hurt. I was born in the wrong body. The body of a machine, and I had to live with that, but that knowledge never made it any easier. _

_No more self-pity. They're leaving now, and I have to leave too, for the last time. This is their future, not mine – mine is elsewhere. And it's not like we'll never meet again. It is, after all, the same paradise, the same Heaven, whoever or whatever you are, and I might be waiting a while, but they'll be there._

And she leaves, quietly, losing herself in the breeze that comes from the opening door of the church, as the Doctor and Rose leave hand in hand, Marion running behind with her flower basket and people filing after them. There's photos being taken, and the churchyard's a hive of activity as family jostle around, trying to get into position. But something's wrong here, Rose thinks, and she doesn't know what.

Then she sees her. Standing a short distance away, behind the photographer and seemingly unnoticed by the others is a girl – blonde, wearing a white top and jeans, a bemused, frightened look on her face. Just for a moment, their eyes meet, before the girl vanishes right before her eyes.

"Doctor," she whispers, nudging him in the ribs and pointing. "I swear I just saw…" He just smiles back at her as the party start moving again, a shower of rice and pieces of confetti raining down on them.

-

Sitting in the garden that night, Rose can't stop bouncing. They're going away tomorrow, and she can't wait. Marion's staying with the family, and they've got two weeks all to themselves before she has to be back for work.

"Rose?"

"What?" she replies, grinning and literally jumping around under the tree, grabbing a branch and swinging from it.

"Calm down."

"I can't help it!" But she gets down anyway, reluctantly, sitting on the grass next to the Doctor. Follows his gaze to the roses under the tree, growing around the exposed roots.

"You miss her, don't you?"

"Yeah. I know this sounds stupid, but I'm sure…I'm sure she was there today."

"Me too. When we were standing at the altar, it was like I was being watched. But it wasn't weird, it was a nice feeling…like someone smiling at me."

The Doctor looks back up at her, regarding her face carefully. Then his sombre expression cracks into a massive smile and he reaches over and plays with her hair. Holds up whatever it is he's found for Rose to see.

A single grain of rice, between his fingers.


End file.
